Two Geniuses and a Klutz
by Adreus
Summary: discontinued — crack — Of course it's a body swap; what else would it be? —SasuHina, NejiHina.
1. DAY ZERO

**Notes: **This is a convoluted mess of English and Japanese; I'm using Japanese honorifics (-chama, -san, -sama, etc); I'm using the English name spellings (Hyūga, not Hyuuga); and there's a mix of English jutsu names and Japanese jutsu names. Moreover, I'm thinking of Sasuke's English voice and Neji's Japanese; if you're unfamiliar, Neji's is a lot deeper in Japan, and Sasuke's is more... whiny in the English, I suppose.

This is **alternate reality pre-timeskip**; it fits no where in the timeline. I prefer thinking that it would be with Retrieval Arc Neji, Kakashi Affected Sasuke (without the Sound butting in), Retrieval Sakura, Post-Chūnin-Exam Hinata, and well, Naruto's always the same lovable guy personality-wise, so I won't specify. If it _were _to fit in the timeline, I'd say it would be two to three months after Kakashi talks to Sasuke, should the Sound not have come to change Sasuke's mind.

**And **this is... actually pretty old. Hence why it's a bit choppy; I apologize for that.

_NARUTO _is property of Masashi Kishimoto; I do not claim any rights.

* * *

**TWO GENIUSES**

_and a klutz_

- DAY ZERO-

* * *

**The **pebble fell gracefully into the rushing water flowing south and floated down the river bank. Sasuke sighed, moodily kicking another small rock. He had absolutely nothing to do; he'd trained for hours alone and still he felt he was making no practice. Anyone whom Sasuke could've asked to train with him was busy; even Sakura and Ino were too busy to pay attention to Sasuke. He was positive that Naruto was trying to show off to Kiba, Shino was likely on another mission with his father, Shikamaru busy being lazy with Choji. Rock Lee was training with Gai, but Sasuke really didn't feel like going to train with… _them_. The second pebble fell not-so-gracefully into the river also, and with a moan of utter boredom, Sasuke sat down by the water.

Who was left? Hinata Hyūga? No, Sasuke couldn't train with her; he was sure it wouldn't help him at all. Then there was no one left – Sasuke was going to have to spend his time brooding. It took Sasuke about three more minutes until he finally realized whom he could train with, who wasn't too busy. In fact, he was probably training himself!

But… where was he? Sasuke knew he wasn't at the Hyūga's complex, and even if he was, Sasuke wasn't going to go inside to get him. The white eyes of their clan members always burnt on his back annoyed Sasuke, and he wasn't about to get more annoyed than he was at the moment. Sasuke stood, readying himself on the long and treacherous look for Neji Hyūga.

Or rather, short and easy; Neji was about a five-minute walk away, helping Hinata with her _Jūken_. The moment Sasuke entered Neji's vision, they both had a quick glaring contest in which they tried to stare each other down. It was a bit difficult for Sasuke to stare Neji _down _though; curse his genes, Sasuke was shorter! Finally, they both gave up the glaring/staring contest and proceeded to state each other's names menacingly.

"Uchiha," said Neji menacingly.

"Hyūga," said Sasuke menacingly. Sasuke won this speech battle because his phrase contained a special character.

After that mini-battle, Neji and Sasuke began to circle each other, Hinata left forgotten, both not taking their eyes off each other. They asked each other a few questions to which they gave nonchalant responses. (For example, Neji asked Sasuke about the weather, to which Sasuke calmly responded that it was rather blue outside.) As this was taking longer than it was supposed to, Sasuke finished it by asking, "So, wanna go out for coffee later or something?" to which Neji replied, "Yeah, sure, whatever."

They stopped and shook hands in a truce, smirks upon their faces.

Hinata just sort of stared.

"Sasuke, I believe you know my cousin, Hinata-sama," said Neji, presenting the sweaty and dirty Hinata to the clean-ish Sasuke.

"Yeah," said Sasuke, "We were in the same year at the Academy?" He stated it as though it was obvious. Neji nodded as though this was of no importance in the knowing-each-other world and then asked Sasuke what he had come here for, bothering Neji when he was so very busy trying to please Hinata-sama with flow—training! Training, really!

"I need a training partner," stated Sasuke in a very Sasuke-ish way, a trademark Uchiha Smirk™ on his face. It was obviously supposed to be an honor to be able to train with him. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Everyone else is busy."

Neji nodded, "I understand." He took a moment to look back at Hinata, who was just sort of standing there, and then look backed at Sasuke. "However, what of Hinata-sama…?"

Before he knew what he was saying, Sasuke said, "She can join us. I really don't care as long as I'm training with someone who is worth a damn."

"Is that okay with you, Hinata-sama?" asked Neji, his gaze locked upon her eyes.

Hinata sort of stumbled and choked before a high-pitched, "Huh? O-Oh, sure! I don't mind – I-I've actually been planning to try a new j-jutsu that Ino was helping me with…" She looked sort of lost without Neji to guide her somewhere, to which Neji looked concerned. She gave a confident nod then, which seemed to reassure him.

Both of them stepped into battle formation and leaped at each other in slow motion. Since both of them were powerful but Sasuke was Kishimoto's Broken-Character-of-Doom, after a three episode battle sequence, Sasuke came out as the winner in their spar.

They both fell back onto the grass and laid there, thinking about their depressing pasts while _Grief and Sorrow _played in the background and Hinata fumbled with herself, practicing that jutsu of hers. When the song was over, Neji and Sasuke breathed harshly and said between breaths how good of a spar that was.

"—_J-jutsu_!" Hinata's trembling voice just now came over their heavy breathing. They couldn't catch her first word, and so they had no idea what was headed their way. Sasuke and Neji jumped to their feet, jets of lavender light were shooting from Hinata's hands towards them!

Neji and Sasuke quickly blocked the lights; the lights went right through them. Hinata gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth, muttering constant apologies. She shouldn't have apologized that soon – behind the boys, the lights materialized again and they barely dodged them!

This continued for a few moments, the lights shooting towards them and the two dodging and blocking all they wanted, but the shots would just reappear and aim again. 'What kind of jutsu-?' was on both of their minds and for a second Sasuke stopped to think. The second was all that was needed for the tired Sasuke to be hit with the jutsu. He fell back, eyes squeezed shut.

When Sasuke was hit, Neji made the mistake of looking back at him to see what happened. This was what the jutsu after Neji needed as well. He too was hit, and he too, fell back, though his eyes were open.

It was strange – they had expected something to happen, some pain to shoot through their bodies, but nothing happened. After a few seconds of catching their breath, both Sasuke and Neji stood, perfectly normal as though what had just happened hadn't happened at all. Hinata was shock still, biting her lip and biting back a sob. Neither was hurt! Thank whoever was listening!

Sasuke looked himself up and down, behind and front. There was nothing wrong with him. "Well," he said, glancing at Neji, "that was anticlimactic."

Neji dusted his clothes off and pushed his hair back, his loose tie falling off. Neji's hair fell down gracefully, little dust coming down. Neji shook his head so as to get it out of his eyes. Sasuke made an odd cough that sounded oddly like "_Girl_!"

Neji ignored Sasuke, opting to instead comfort Hinata, who was sobbing. As a shoulder had been provided to her, Hinata decided it was time Neji's shirt should be wet beyond belief. Neji pulled a face before the warmth of Hinata spread throughout his body and then his eyes widened at Sasuke before they relaxed.

Sasuke sort of stared.

Neji stuck his tongue out.

Sasuke continued to stare.

Hinata stopped sobbing but didn't get off of Neji.

Neji half-choked looking down at her, so he looked up at Sasuke and said in a very high-pitched voice, "Er, um, well, that was a great spar, Sasuke! _See you later_."

Sasuke twitched. "Yes, er, I'll see you when we get that coffee!" Sasuke spluttered. He awkwardly turned around and ran away really, really fast. Neji just stood there because Hinata _still _hadn't moved.

"Eh, Hinata-sama?" Neji whispered, gulping, "C-could you get off me?" Neji felt her get off instantly, her eyes wide.

"I'm sorry!" she said, "Really, I didn't say it right! I won't try that—" Hinata stopped and looked at Neji's shirt and gasped, pointing at his shoulder, "You're wet." Hinata sounded lost. Neji glanced at his shoulder before shrugging.

"I've had worse," he mumbled. Looking to his sides quickly, Neji said, "Listen, Hinata-sama, I forgot to give Sasuke something. You go home, and I'll come back in a half-hour, right?" Hinata nodded. "Good." Neji turned and walked away, shaken. He stopped and took in a breath, not bothering to see if Hinata left or not before heading off to blindly follow wherever Sasuke had been headed.

After thirty seconds of blindly following, Neji realized that he had the Byakugan and could easily track down Sasuke if he used his head. He was having an off day though, so it was okay. Using his handi-_special _eyes, Neji found that Sasuke was at the Ramen Bar Naruto could always be found at. This was really kind of weird.

He shrugged, heading towards Ichiraku's. There, he found Sasuke and Naruto talking. Or rather, Naruto blabbing about his favorite type of Ramen while Sasuke sat there and nodded as though he was paying attention. Neji noted that Sasuke was smiling. This was also really kind of weird.

Neji decided it was time to ruin the precious Naruto-Sasuke brotherly moment. He needed to talk to Sasuke before his half-hour was up and then meet Hinata again. He was already twently whole minutes into the limit he set for himself!

"Hey! Uchiha!" yelled Neji.

Sasuke didn't hear him.

"Yo! Uchiha!" yelled Neji.

Sasuke didn't hear him.

"Hearken, Uchiha!" yelled Neji.

Sasuke heard him this time, but he was enjoying himself so acted as though he didn't hear him. Meanwhile, Neji was running out of ways to say an English 'Hello' without sounding British. He decided to bypass and trade the explanation point with the period in his first attempt.

"Hey, Uchiha!" yelled Neji.

Sasuke looked up this time, as did Naruto. Sasuke rolled his eyes and hopped off his stool, informing Naruto that Sasuke was not paying for the bill. ("You said you'd treat me!")

Sasuke and Neji proceeded into their rivalry ritual.

The two stared each other down, Neji succeeding since Sasuke was still shorter. How unfortunate that he did not have a growth spurt in the past hour!

They continued the ritual.

"Hyūga," said Sasuke menacingly.

Neji was determined not to lose this time.

"Ûchiha," said Neji menacingly. Neji won, not only because he had an accent, but also because his was pointing up and was on top of a capital letter. Extra points for the pointing thing.

Finally, the two circled each other and asked each other questions before realizing that Neji would win 2 out of 3 if Sasuke got this one anyway. They shook hands and Neji directed them to a coffee shop called Niraku's Coffee. Over coffee, the two discussed things of utmost importance such as how it was possible for Sasuke's hair to stick at such angles.

"Anyway," said Neji once they had agreed that it was the Third Law of Pop Culture that stated that one of the main characters in a series must have strange hair, "I think that Hinata-sama's jutsu might've worked!"

Dramatic music played in the background. Sasuke mocked surprise and spit out his hot coffee all over Neji's shirt. Neji looked down, mortified, at his poor shirt. He then noticed a sign above his head on the window that said 'Abuse Neji's Shirt Day – 0 Day(s) Left!'

"No way!" said Sasuke, "I don't believe you! It could not be possible that we are setting a plot point here!"

"Stop breaking the fourth wall, Sasuke!" hissed Neji. He covered Sasuke's mouth with his hand and looked around suspiciously. After he deemed it okay to let go (when Sasuke's hot tongue decided to lick his hand), Neji backed into his chair and took a sip.

"What could Hinata's jutsu do?" asked Sasuke nonchalantly, looking over a flyer about 'Abuse Sasuke Day – Coming Next Week!' that had just been handed to him.

"Hinata-sama's jutsu may be weak," said Neji, looking over one himself, thinking that he may perhaps participate in the 'Attempt to do Your Hair Like Sasuke' contest, "but they also have a tendency to work and bring unfortunate circumstance. For all we know, we could end up with _normal manly _hair tomorrow morning!"

Thunder struck and lightning flashed somewhere in the distance. Sasuke looked at Neji with horror etched onto his face. "Not my hair!" he proclaimed sarcastically, "_Anything _but that! Take _Itachi _for all I care! Just leave my hair alone, _dammit_!"

Neji stared pointedly at Sasuke. Sasuke stared right back. A staring contest was about to commence, but Neji thought that might take a bit too long so instead he just poured what was left of his coffee in Sasuke's hair. Sasuke pretended nothing happened, but did blink, and the two stopped staring/glaring at each other.

"So we've established that _something _is going to end up happening to us?" asked Neji.

"Yes, we've _established_ that we've established that something is going to end up happening to us," replied Sasuke. He rolled his eyes and called a random waitress, asking for a cold coffee. (Specifically, he asked for "Another one, but make sure it's cold so it won't hurt poor Neji's _beautiful _hair.") "And bring the check too!" shouted Sasuke after the waitress. She was giggling for some unknown reason.

"Okay, I was just _warning_ you. Are you going to hurt me for being nice for once? I can always be a jerk, y'know," said Neji, more to himself than Sasuke. Sasuke murmured something about hating the jerk-Neji less.

The waitress returned with the cold coffee, but not the check that Sasuke asked for. Sasuke glared at her instead of inquiring, because it was just one of his natural instincts. Glaring.

She sort of stumbled when looking into Sasuke's black eyes, but managed to splutter, "S-someone has offered to pay for y-your meal…" she seemed lost. Sasuke arched an eyebrow (yet his glare didn't falter, somehow), a silent inquiry at who paid for him. "T-they left!"

She ran away and Sasuke looked at Neji. The two just stared at each other for a moment.

"…Yeah, I'm leaving now," said Sasuke, taking his cold coffee and standing up. "If I'm lucky I won't see you tomorrow?" Sasuke's chair screeched when he pushed it under the table.

Neji nodded, getting up also. Neither left a tip.

* * *

- END DAY ZERO –


	2. DAY ONE

**Note: **Hi. I wrote this in 2007. I forgot to upload the second chapter. This does not neccessarily mean I'm going to finish this story, ever, because ahaha, Naruto.

Anyway. Starting this chapter, when a name is written in single quotes, it means that it appears that the person within the quotes is saying it. (For example, it may occasionally pop up that 'Sasuke' says "Hinata-sama.")

_NARUTO _is property of Masashi Kishimoto; I do not claim any rights.

* * *

**TWO GENUISES**

_and a klutz_

DAY ONE

* * *

**Neji** yawned and stretched, feeling strangely more stiff than usual in bed. Blinking away sleep from his eyes, Neji yawned again and crawled out from under the covers. He found the edge a little later than usual, but didn't mind. Neji looked around and located the bathroom easily, and opened the door to see the usual wh-

Or he could be hit by flying clothes. That too. He really should've put his stuff away neatly yesterday instead of training. Neji sighed and turned around, going to the _real _bathroom.

This time, Neji was met with the white he was so used to. There was something different about the bathroom, he could tell that much, but Neji's vision was still a bit blurry, so he paid it no mind. It was when Neji finally went in front of the mirror that something was wrong.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me."

* * *

The thing about Sasuke was that he slept however the hell long he wanted. He did not give a damn about Kakashi's little Team 7 missions, nor did he care about training in the mornings. He was damn tired, he always got up this late, and he wouldn't have it any other way. Sasuke's blood-type was AB; Sasuke was a cranky little bugger in the mornings, and so he was to sleep-in, or he was to kill some cute, fluffy, little animal.

Which was why an alarm to wake him up was very much unwelcome at six in the morning. Not only was it at _least _three hours before he usually got up, it was also _right next to his ear_. Sasuke growled and got up, wondering when the hell he got an alarm clock. A prank of Naruto's?

Sasuke sat in his bed, eyes still half-closed and sleepy. He felt like a duck, just sitting there in the middle of pillows, his hair everywhere. Sasuke fell back in bed again, rubbing out some of the sleep in his eyes. What kept him awake after that, though, was not the lack of sleep in his eyes – it was the fact that his vision was clearer than it had ever been before. Usually, Sasuke couldn't see the freaking cement _falling off _his ceiling.

Also, when did Sasuke's bed get so comfortable and less pillow occupied?

And since when did his hair get messy in the mornings?

And when did he get a mirror right in front of his bed?

Wait a minute, thought Sasuke, that's not a mirror. It was a person – an exact copy of him, in fact. It looked suspiciously like a transformation jutsu. Oh geez, not again!

"Naruto," growled Sasuke, "What did I tell you last time about coming here in the-coming here at all?" Sasuke's voice came out deeper than usual.

The Sasuke in front of him arched an eyebrow, and Sasuke's own voice said, "Take care of my hair, hmm?"

Sasuke stood up and looked into the mirror to his right.

"Oh _hell _no. Just _no_!"

Sasuke's eyes were no longer black, they were _white _and Sasuke couldn't make out a pupil. Sasuke's hair wasn't sticking up at odd angles like he was used to; no, it was flowing down his back delicately. Sasuke's forehead had a green manji displayed clearly, one Sasuke was sure wasn't for only decoration.

Staring back at Sasuke from the mirror was Neji Hyūga.

"Hyūga," said Sasuke, closing his eyes (he found he could still see?), "What the hell is this?"

Neji smirked, the Neji-ish smirk looking foreign on Sasuke's features. "This'd be that thing I told you about yesterday," he said calmly. "Your vision sucks, by the way. Sharingan isn't that great, either." Neji shugged and grabbed a brush, tossing it at Sasuke. Sasuke caught it and stared at it blankly.

"Eh?"

"_Comb it_, dumbass. I'd do it, but I don't want to risk looking slightly gay," Neji said in answer, rolling his eyes. He sat down on the bed, watching Sasuke in interest as he continued to just stare at the comb blankly.

Neji sighed, and stood. "Activate Byakugan," he commanded. He took the brush from Sasuke, and waited for the veins to appear on his head. "Sasuke, _activate Byakugan_." Sasuke shook himself, and quickly sent a pulse of chakra to his eyes. "Keep watch."

Neji began combing his hair. After a slightly awkward three minutes, in which Sasuke thought a cat might've been Hinata, and Neji ended up trying to tie Sasuke's hair three times, the two ended up looking how the other would normally look.

"Hinata's jutsu caused us to switch bodies?" asked Sasuke, feeling slightly tall. He admitted by now that Byakugan was more useful when it came to stealth, but Sharingan was so much more comfortable. It didn't hurt his head when he used it. "Am I allowed to kill her?"

Neji made the bed, making a general check of everything in his room while ignoring Sasuke. He took a few clothes from his closet and stuffed them in a bag before finally paying attention to the Uchiha turned Hyūga.

"No, you're not allowed to kill Hinata-sama," he said, glowering at him. "Anyway, we're both going to stay at your house, since you live alone."

"Who made you boss of whatever the hell we're doing?" asked Sasuke, putting his hands on his hips. Neji wondered why he hadn't realized he was so damn girly before. Sasuke looked up at his head when a stray strand of hair fell on it. He blew. The hair flew, then landed in front of his eyes again.

Neji watched as Sasuke struggled to get the hair out of his face. "I'm older," said Neji in response to Sasuke's question, "Hinata-sama's jutsu should be easier for me to understand and fix." Sasuke stared at Neji as though that was the most idiotic excuse for being leader he'd ever heard.

"Whatever. Just don't do anything to my body, or I'll cut your hair," Sasuke threatened. Neji retaliated with something that was better left not retold, involving Sasuke, Naruto, and some serious yaoi.

Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment before he shook his head clear of the mental images. "Yeah, well, then I'd—" and such went the rest of the walk to Sasuke's house. The geniuses were throwing blackmail and threats at each other like there was to be no tomorrow, until finally Sasuke said, "Alright, stop it or I'm going to tell Hinata you're infatuated with her!"

Neji froze in his spot, paling. He turned and looked Sasuke in the eyes, knowing precisely where to look for the pupils.

"Don't!" Neji commanded more than pleaded, "Don't you dare!"

Sasuke realized that he'd finally hit the jackpot. He'd successfully found something that Neji could be blackmailed with. A malicious smirk on his face that was not fitting of Neji Hyūga, Sasuke patted Neji on the back to make him trudge forward on the walk to Sasuke's apartment. Neji went obediently, lost in a bit of a daze.

* * *

Sasuke's apartment seemed a lot smaller than usual when another person entered. Neji flung the bag over his shoulder onto the table and slumped down on the floor. He fell a little hard, thinking he was to be met with the usual soft carpet of the Hyūga's – he was disappointed. Sasuke's floor was hard and cold; it was rather unwelcoming.

"Are you vision impaired?" asked Sasuke, standing over Neji. (Neji mumbled something about Sasuke being the one vision impaired, and about how he missed his own eyes very, very, much.) "You're sitting on the only part of the floor that isn't carpeted?" he supplied when Neji gave him a glare. The now-shorter boy stood up and dusted himself off before going to Sasuke's bed, but preferring to stand this time.

"Now, how do we get out of this-?" questioned Sasuke when he was sure Neji was paying attention instead of murmuring fast curses at Sasuke and his body. He looked down at himself and found that his neck missed the pleasant unbreeze that his collar used to prevent. Sasuke took out the tie in Neji's hair – that would prevent the breeze from penetrating!

"We need Hinata-sama to help us, first of all." Sasuke was about to say something but Neji's Sharingan started flaring before he had the opportunity. "_Yes_, she can help us, _Brother Neji_." Neji stared at Sasuke pointedly. "You have to act the part until we change back."

"Why should I?" asked Sasuke, crossing his arms and half-pouting. He looked rather childish. He then added, "When _will _we change back?"

Neji shrugged. He didn't know.

"_How _will we change back?" Sasuke rephrased his question; could it be as simple as waiting a day? Another jutsu? Or could they _not _change back? Sasuke shrug off the thought. That was _not _going to happen! They would find a way.

Neji said, "Quote the Ninja Rules, 'A Shinobi shall never reveal his weakness.' With the exception of Hinata-sama, no one must know of this, so we'll have to figure it out ourselves. Might happen naturally, or we'll have to get Hinata-sama to—"

"Stop saying sama."

Neji looked taken aback. "What?"

Sasuke said bluntly, "Has it ever occurred to you that I don't give a damn about honorifics? They show respect, and respect means that someone is superior. I don't show inferiority. Stop saying 'sama.'" Neji took a moment to digest what Sasuke said. Sasuke added, "It's 'Kakashi' not 'Kakashi-sensei,' too, got it?"

Neji still looked a bit astonished, but he closed his eyes and smirked. "Yeah. Anyway, we need to find Hinata-sam—_Hinata_"—It seemed so foreign to say it without the honorific laced on it—"and you need to get permission from Hiashi-sama—ah, _Hiashi._"

"For what?" asked Sasuke suddenly, "Aren't you an orphan? Why should he matter at all?"

Neji looked into Sasuke's—his own—eyes, trying to read what emotion must've been hidden inside them. Neji found he couldn't. Was that why so many feared him? Was it his unreadable expression?

"Isolation," said Sasuke suddenly, "makes you stronger." Neji didn't believe this; he'd always thought that humans had a set limit, one that they would never succeed. Gai had always said that it was protecting the lives of someone precious that made you stronger. What was it? What _did _motivate Lee, Tenten, Hinata?

"However," Neji than said, "it only hardens the exterior." Sasuke did not falter. Both looked at each other with great intensity, daring each other to look away. Finally, Sasuke tore his gaze away; with the level of intensity they had stared, their bloodlines had activated. Sasuke did not like looking into the Sharingan, no matter how much he used it himself.

Looking a little tired, Neji said that it was ten' o'clock. Both of them had to go and meet their teams at the training grounds. They decided that after whatever it was they were doing they would meet up again in Sasuke's room and decide what else to do later. In two ninflashes, Sasuke and Neji were out of the apartment and on the way to the grounds.

…

"You go that way."

"Same with you."

Or, they were going to their own grounds when they should've been going to each other's.

* * *

They were both lucky the first day; both Kakashi and Gai were unable to lead them anywhere. An hour after they had left, Neji and Sasuke again stood in Sasuke's room, musing over what to do.

"La—_Hinata,_" Neji swallowed mid-sentence, "shall be coming back with her team soon."

Sasuke was lying on his stomach on the floor, feeling very much like a girl, but not caring in the least. (This was Neji's body, and if anyone saw them, Neji's reputation was the one going down.) He nodded nonchalantly, skimming over the 'Abuse Sasuke Day' flyer that he'd taken from the coffee shop. He was sure it had come a week early, considering how he had woken up this morning.

"She will know what has happened to us within five minutes of meeting us," Neji continued confidently. The insight needed to easily notice the change between Neji and Sasuke came with the Hyūga blood; it would be easy for Hinata to notice. She, unlike the adults, knew Neji and Sasuke and could tell them apart with ease.

"You give her too much credit." Sasuke crumpled the flyer in his fist and tossed it aside. Neji looked down, not meeting Sasuke's gaze. He was aware that he gave Hinata a lot of credit. But she was improving, wasn't she? She deserved it!

Neji looked at the analog clock on the wall for some sort of distraction. It was nearly 11:30 – the time that Hinata would arrive back at the Hyūga complex. Nudging Sasuke with his foot, Neji pointed to his watch and headed for the door. Sasuke got up, rubbed his side where he'd been nudged, made a face, and then followed.

Sasuke decided that being in Neji's body was kind of funny when he looked into the mirror on his way out and played with Neji's hair. This was rewarding, in its own twisted way.

"Sa—Neji! Are you coming or not?" shouted Neji with Sasuke's voice. Sasuke quickly turned off the lights and ran out to catch up with Neji. He thought he might receive an inquiring look or glare (for which he had a glare-back prepared), but no such thing happened. The two trudged toward the complex in silence.

By the time the two had reached the complex, which for some reason was as far away from Sasuke's apartment as possible, it was noon. Neji led them into the area, staying careful to be hidden and outdoors the whole time. Whenever a Hyūga appeared across their path, they hid in a bush at Neji's direction. Sasuke didn't know how this would have any sort of affect, seeing as the Hyūga Clan had the Byakugan, but said nothing. Finally, Neji led the two of them to a garden in the back. There, with her back to them, stood Hinata Hyūga, watering the plants.

"Uh, Hinata?" said Neji softly, in Sasuke's voice. They had decided silently that they would let her figure out that they had switched by herself.

Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin; she hadn't even realized someone was behind her! Let alone, Sasuke Uchiha? What the crap?

She set down the hose and turned, noticing that Neji, too, was behind her. How long had the two of them been there? Was she really that absorbed within her thoughts and the garden that she hadn't been alert?

"Hinata," said Neji, "We need your help."

"Brother," said Hinata slowly, after a moment of thinking, "Are you using the transformation?" He was the one that looked like Sasuke, she was sure of that, but it didn't _feel _like a transformation jutsu…

Neji let out a sigh of relief. "Hinata-sama, you pass," he said. Hinata looked quizzical, so he quickly added, "It's not a transformation jutsu, you're right."

"Then wha—" Hinata stopped, the look of dawning comprehension on her features. "My jutsu?" She asked weakly, looking at Sasuke, as his current face was more familiar to her. Sasuke nodded.

Neji said, "We'll tell you all about it in a minute. First, can you please ask Lord Hiashi for permission to stay at Sasuke's for a night? For the both of us?" Sasuke turned fast and looked at Neji, about to protest about Hinata, but Neji stared at him, Sharingan flaring. Sasuke made an annoyed face and huffed, glaring at the floor. Neji never mentioned anything about Hinata!

Hinata gulped, and nodded. "Do you have your things?" Neji nodded. "Um, okay, shall I pack-?"

"No," said Neji with an air of finality that stopped Hinata from even looking a little shocked, "We need to get to Sasuke's as fast as possible. You go and find Lord Hiashi, Sasuke and I'll pack you things." Hinata bit her lip, but nodded.

"Neji," she blushed a bit, cleared her throat, and went up to 'Sasuke.' She whispered something into his ear which ended up making 'Sasuke' turn a rather bright red. Sasuke stared, wondering what it could possibly have been that Hinata had said.

Neji coughed.

Hinata coughed.

Sasuke watched.

The awkwardness continued.

Finally, Sasuke decided it was time to get going. "Ahem?"

Hinata's blush quite profound, she turned on her heel and trooped inside the Hyūga complex, leaving poor Neji frozen in his spot. He still had not even blinked, and was staring where Hinata's … _bladder _would be rather uncomfortably.

"Hyūga," said Sasuke, "_Wake up_."

Neji's eye twitched, but he turned around and led the way to Hinata's room. There, he took a toothbrush, a shirt, some pants, …undergarments, and Hinata's brush. Then he informed Sasuke that he was to go under the bed and take two of whatever was under there.

Sasuke shrugged and did so.

By the time he had two, 'Neji's' face was also bright red, and the two just sort of stared at each other with wide eyes.

Sasuke tossed the tampons into the bag, shaking. He ran into the bathroom, washed his hands, and then the two proceeded as though nothing had happened. Which was kind of hard, considering the both of them had rather wide eyes and red cheeks.

"Wait a minute," said Sasuke in the doorway. "She told you where she _puts _them? Couldn't she just, I don't know, _protest_?"

"She didn't tell me," said Neji quietly.

"Then-?"

"Well, uh, there was this one time that I was supposed to go into her room to give her something and she was all spazzy that day, I thought she was sick, she was asking for chocolate and everything," Neji said quickly, "but then when I went into the room she was crying but enjoying chocolate and she was watching sappy films and stuff and when I asked her if she was okay she reached under the bed and _threw _one at me!"

Sasuke stared.

Neji twitched.

"She threw a _tampon _at you?"

"Y-yeah…"

"She threw a freaking _tampon _at _you_?"

"Uh huh…"

"Not even a _pad _or anything? A _tampon_?"

"Y—Wait a minute… What the hell, Sasuke, Pads vs. Tampons? Is this your version of Briefs vs. Boxers?"

"…"

"…"

"…I have a lot of free time."

* * *

After several minutes in which a stony-faced Neji handed a flushing Hinata her bag (refusing to meet each other's gazes), the three trudged in silence to Sasuke's apartment. There, Sasuke was forced to be gallant by Neji and offer his bed to Hinata. She was kind enough to decline, but Neji _insisted_ that she take the bed. Sasuke made a quiet comment about how Neji would've liked it if Hinata offered to share.

Hinata was filled in with all the information that they had figured out so far. She slapped her head at the end and apologized, but Sasuke told her to save it; it wasn't going to help them any. Right now, the only thing they could do was research. If they did this right, they could end up back to normal tomorrow. If not, they had a plan.

Tomorrow, Neji Hyūga would be busy and wouldn't show up with his team for a mission or training. On the other hand, Sasuke Uchiha would be sick and wouldn't show up either. Though this might lead both Sakura and Tenten to worry about them, they would still be left in peace until they got out of bed.

It was a really weak plan if one thought too much on it, but Neji and Sasuke were already a bit occupied with looking through scrolls and scrolls for jutsus; something had to be in one of those things!

"Neji?" said Hinata gently after rummaging through a set of scrolls that Kurenai had set her to memorize, "I think I've found something."

Neji and Sasuke were next to her in the blink of an eye. Hinata pointed out a small corner of the old scroll entitled _Mind Transfer Jutsu and the Worries of the Wrong_. To Sasuke's dismay, it was a very small paragraph, but none-the-less he and Neji drank up all it had to say about their current condition.

It was of absolutely no help at all. In fact, it made things _worse_.

"This is Kage Level jutsu," mumbled Neji grimly, "even I'll admit that I can't do that. Thank you, Hinata-sama, for the information." Neji gave a disheartened Hinata the scroll back. Neji sat down next to her on Sasuke's bed, looking through her other books for an answer that could be more private. Sasuke, meanwhile, was in thought about the information they had just been given. Kage level power would be easy to replicate if the three of them were to pool their chakra together, right? He, Neji, and even Hinata, for she was a Hyūga, all had good chakra control.

"Hyūga," said Sasuke sharply, causing both Neji and Hinata to turn to her at the same time. Sasuke looked directly into his own eyes with such ferocity that it seemed to Hinata that a fire was burning inside of him. "Would it be entirely impossible for us to accomplish the jutsu in the book if all three of us were to try it together?" Sasuke wasn't one to work together with those other than Sakura and Naruto, but he was getting desperate. Not even a day had gone by and he wanted back into his body as fast as possible.

Neji knew why Sasuke wanted to get the hell back in his body, though Sasuke probably couldn't tell as easily. Through years of training with feeling, seeing, and mastering chakra in general, Neji could tell easily that the thing that was making both of them most anxious was the foreign chakra in their bodies. Each person's chakra supply and type was different, they both knew this. What they didn't know was that each chakra _felt _different too. Neji was used to long shots of graceful wind element chakra, not Sasuke's short fire-and-lightning chakra that came in electric bursts.

"No," Neji said to Sasuke, after rereading what he had just been looking over, "it would be idiotic to even try that without the help of a Kage." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Dammit, wasn't there _anything _they could do?

As if upon Sasuke's wishes, Sasuke's voice said two minutes of silence later, "I've found something." In about two seconds, Sasuke had settled on the bed as well, staring down at Neji's book. Neji pointed out a whole chapter dedicated to Reverse Double Mind Transfer. (Hinata said something about intending to practice mind transfer on a bird, not double mind transfer!)

Sasuke read aloud, in Neji's voice, "'The Double Mind Transfer Jutsu, a complete analysis by Inoichi Yamanaka.'" He and Hinata met gazes before he continued reading. "'Out of the many secret jutsu of the lead, the Double Mind is one of the most difficult to get yourself out of.' Yeah, that defiantly helps."

Neji rolled his eyes. "Just continue."

Sasuke checked his watch before scanning the article. It was nearly six already! Had it already been twelve hours? "The discovery blah blah blah, how to perform… Yamanakas and the mind transfer, (Do you think I could get Ino Yamanaka to undo this?), blah blah… There!"

"What is it?" asked Hinata. Hopefully it wouldn't be something difficult.

"'Undoing this Jutsu for Minors Who Don't Want to Get Caught, by Ino Yamanaka,'" pointed out Sasuke. "How convenient. Maybe we _should _get Ino to help us. She seems to know a lot about it." By now, Neji was getting frustrated and grabbed the article from Sasuke. "Hey!"

Neji said, "It's a seven day process." Sasuke's face did not fall as expected. Apparently, the thought of being able to change back was enough to make him feel better. Neji continued. "It says that it's basically a seven day jutsu. At night you perform it, while during the day you can do whatever you want. It requires three people."

"Are you sure it'll work?"

"Positive," said Neji.

"How can you be sure?" Sasuke shot immediately. He wouldn't risk any other problems. "This is Ino Yamanaka."

Hinata contributed, "Ino may gossip a lot, but she knows from experience. Sakura and she switched once when she was practicing." Sasuke studied Hinata for a moment before relinquishing his doubts. He felt like he could trust Hinata.

"Right," said Neji. "Obviously, Hinata-sama will be our third person." Hinata bit her lip. She'd need permission from her father… Before, she had to lie and say she was going to Sakura's to come here (Neji was going to Naruto's.) Her father would've never let her stay with two boys, one of them Sasuke Uchiha, for even a day, let alone seven.

"You'll need more permission, won't you?" Sasuke asked Hinata. Hinata did not falter at Sasuke's gaze; it wasn't that it looked as though he was actually Neji, but Hinata found softness in Sasuke's expression that she'd seen only in Neji and Naruto out of all the boys in Konoha. In a way, it was understanding, and she didn't think Sasuke was capable of it.

"Yes," Hinata replied, "I will."

He did not frown as expected by Hinata – he nodded. "Today or tomorrow, Hinata-chama?"

Neji froze. Sasuke had said it as though it was normal. '_I don't give a damn about honorifics? They show respect, and respect means that someone is superior. I don't show inferiority.' _Was he just getting used to the word on his lips, for when they were to go outside? But it didn't sound foreign, and he seemed to be fairly used to latching chama to Hinata.

Hinata had also frozen, but had recovered quickly. Suddenly she felt as though she was seven again, meeting the Uchiha Clan at her door, noticing that like her, there was a little boy hiding behind his mother's kimono. That had been Sasuke-chan; when he was small and young and different – now he was just Sasuke.

Sasuke and Hinata looked each other in the eyes, not faltering.

"Tomorrow, _Sasuke_," Hinata said finally.

The awkward moment left as quickly as it had come. Sasuke scowled and turned his head away. Hinata had won over him. She had not moved or looked away; Sasuke did. Right now, what he wanted most was to be able to hang out with Naruto. The cheery, blonde, idiot that was his best friend could always make Sasuke feel better…

It was reminding himself that he couldn't meet Naruto like this that drove him to sit down on the floor again and ask Neji how the jutsu would be performed. Neji said that he'd explain that night. For now, the three of them were free to do anything they wanted.

"Great," said Sasuke, "I'm going to go waste Neji's chakra on a transformation." With that, he performed the hand seals and transformed into himself. Neji arched an eyebrow (though Sasuke didn't see this). Sasuke then proceeded to stalk out of his apartment and sprint to Ichiraku's, where he knew Naruto would be. It was 6:30; Naruto's dinner time.

The sun was about to set.


End file.
